Wildfire Evacuation Orders Lifted For Most In Southern California

Fire officials say winds have died down and that the threat from two blazes has eased. In and around San Diego, evacuation orders for more than 20,000 residents were lifted. In Santa Barbara County, people have not been allowed to return to a small number of the 1,200 homes and business ordered evacuated.

Original Post:

A wildfire swept up by gusty winds has burned through hundreds of acres in northern San Diego county, causing officials to call for the evacuation of 20,000 homes in the area.

Member station KPBS' David Wagner reports that the fire broke out Tuesday morning and that flames continued moving toward homes throughout the afternoon, though he says no structural damage has yet been reported.

Wagner says evacuations were issued for many San Diego suburbs, including Fairbanks Ranch, Santaluz and Del Sur.

KPBS reports that multiple structures are threatened by flames, according to a Cal Fire spokesman. "The fire is approximately 5 percent contained but spreading rapidly due to fuel and wind conditions," the station says.

Winds also hampered efforts to control a wildfire hundreds of miles to the north in Santa Barbara County.

The Associated Press reports:

"There were downed power lines and heavy brush in the area, said David Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

"A half-dozen other blazes statewide all remained small, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

"Record high temperatures were likely through midweek from Southern California north to the regions around Monterey and San Francisco bays, the National Weather Service said. Downtown Los Angeles was 92 degrees at noon, 18 degrees above normal."